Jackets' Johnson, Nix Named GNAC Players of Week

PORTLAND, Ore. – Helping the Montana State University Billings baseball team to a 3-1 series victory over Northwest Nazarene last weekend, junior Tanner Johnson and senior Trevor Nix have been selected as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively, announced by the conference office Monday.

Johnson had 10 strikeouts and allowed just three hits in the 129-pitch shutout of NNU, a game in which MSUB tied a program record for margin of victory with the 16-0 result.

“Tanner had a great outing this weekend,” said MSUB head coach Rob Bishop. “It was our first 9-inning shutout since 2011 which is quite an accomplishment.”

Johnson allowed the leadoff baserunner on just once in his nine innings of work, and retired 13 of 15 batters during a stretch between the second and sixth innings. It was the second shutout of the season for MSUB, and the first 9-inning shutout since Kody Kennedy achieved the feat for MSUB in a 3-0 win over Central Washington on April 1, 2011.

Nix came up a triple shy of the cycle in the same game, going 5-for-6 and driving in six runs with two doubles and a home run. On the weekend he went 7-for-11, drove in eight and scored five times. His slugging percentage on the weekend was 1.091.

“Trevor had a nice weekend for us at the plate,” Bishop said. “He saw the ball really well and came up big for us in some key spots. Both he and Tanner are definitely deserving of recognition in the GNAC for their performances.”

Johnson and Nix become the sixth and seventh players this season to win the GNAC Player of the Week award, joining Brody Miller (twice), Kyle Durbin, Cody Cooper, and Luke Reinschmidt.

With the three victories, the Yellowjackets moved into a tie for first place in the GNAC standings with Western Oregon. With one more four-game series left to play, whichever team wins more games between WOU and MSUB will earn hosting privileges for the GNAC Championships.

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After the much anticipated hype this week, the 118th Brawl of the Wild kicked off in Missoula at Washington Grizzly Stadium Saturday. Aside from being the biggest college rivalry game in the state, a potential playoff berth was on the line for both teams, who each held a record of 6-4 ahead of the game. But it was the home team who quickly made their presence known early in the game. On the opening drive, the Grizzlies marched down the field and capped off the impressive 73-yard marc...

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